Radiation and Tea in Japan

I am working on a better map than the one I made previously for the fun of it, and was wondering if anyone had more recent statistics on the amount of tea produced by region in Japan (the stats I found are from 2007: www.o-cha.net/english/cup/pdf/11.pdf)

andie923 wrote:I am working on a better map than the one I made previously for the fun of it, and was wondering if anyone had more recent statistics on the amount of tea produced by region in Japan (the stats I found are from 2007: http://www.o-cha.net/english/cup/pdf/11.pdf)

andie923 wrote:I am working on a better map than the one I made previously for the fun of it, and was wondering if anyone had more recent statistics on the amount of tea produced by region in Japan (the stats I found are from 2007: http://www.o-cha.net/english/cup/pdf/11.pdf)

Kevangogh wrote:Well, the reports show the levels are decreasing each time, so that's good. But 10 Bq/kg is basically "zero". Since shincha has not come out yet, it's too early to tell. My guess is that certain districts of Shizuoka (Kakegawa looks promising) will meet the standards, and other areas (Saitama, Shimada) won't.

Kevan,

Since fish is such an integral part of Japanese diet, how has this affected the sales and eating habits of the general population? Is the confidence level very low? Isn't this where the main affect of Fukushima and the radiation pouring into the sea has on the people?

I don't really know how the sales of fish, etc, are effected except that I know people are not eating fish from the Fukushima area. I can say with confidence that foreigners are more freaked out about the whole thing than the average Japanese person living here is.

Kevangogh wrote:I don't really know how the sales of fish, etc, are effected except that I know people are not eating fish from the Fukushima area. I can say with confidence that foreigners are more freaked out about the whole thing than the average Japanese person living here is.

I can understand this point of view after having lived through some national crises here, but, nevertheless, there is still radiation leaking from Fukushima into the ocean. The Japanese have no choice but to live and adapt to this. Do the Japanese test all fish from the vicinity of Japan for contamination? Fish swim. Some fish swim far, very far and wind up in the nets of fisherman in distant parts of the ocean. This is now a problem for everyone, methinks, the freaked as well as the not freaked.

I sell tea, that's where the bulk of my day is spent. I'm not really qualified to speak on radiation levels of fish. I haven't looked into radiation levels of fish or the current fish market in Japan. My days have been preoccupied with picking good green teas and getting them to the customer as soon as possible. Sorry, I can't be of much assistance on this one...

I'm considering it, but then again, I also know I will get a zillion emails asking about it if I don't have a certificate showing exactly how many bq / kg. Even then, as this thread has shown, it won't satisfy everyone. I think Shizuoka tea is safe right now based on the levels I have seen and I really want to sell it again but without a certificate, it's going to cause major headaches. I contacted one grower, he has a certificate for "raw" leaf but we all know by now that's not going to cut it. Aracha is more concentrated, and in many areas of Shizuoka the levels are not completely zero. The new, strict "safe" levels for tea in Japan are now 100 bq/kg for aracha, 50 bq/kg for liquid/bottled tea.

By the way, EU customs will not allow large bulk shipments that show anything higher than 2 or 3 bq/kg. For all practical purposes, that is zero.

So from my perspective, I'd rather wait for it to be crystal clear.

Please note: Den's says "raw" leaves. Aracha is a completely different story because it's way more concentrated. The accepted standard is aracha, not raw leaves!

It's 50 for baby formula, and 10 for water or "tea". What I read not specify dry leaf, raw leaf, or infused tea but since they put it into the same category as water I assume they mean bottled green tea which is everywhere here. Infused tea is 1/10th the concentration of dry leaves.

I know the standard is aracha and not raw leaves because they made a big deal out of that a year ago. The Shizuoka Prefectural government wanted the standard to be raw leaves, but the Japanese government overruled them based on the fact that dray leaves are often ground up and consumed directly. Many, many teas that would have passed under the "raw" category failed under the aracha category. It's even more strict now. Anyway, I won't buy any tea based on the content of raw leaves, has to be aracha.

Kevin, yes, I see your logic regarding the 10 bq/kilo possibly being for liquid, but it throws me off when it says tea leaves' limit is 10.

Ok, so the restriction is 100 bq/kilo of aracha? I see the logic of this based on the text of your original quote. I just want to make sure we understand 100% especially since some of us will be sharing this information with others.

Based upon everything I have been reading for the last few months and numerous very frank discussions with Japan Government spokespeople ... I am officially back to ordering and enjoying Shizuoka Japanese greens commencing with 2012 harvest teas.

I had pretty many while here at the WTE over the last couple days. It was great to revisit these teas!

I have also read pretty goods news about Shizuoka green teas this year.http://www.chercheurdethe.com/2012/05/2 ... -du-japon/François Xavier Delmas, owner of the French tea shop Palais des thés, says that everything is Ok with the Shizuoka farmers he usually works with.I am also pretty confident. What would'nt I give to have a hon.yama again in my teacup !